Drinking Water

John Spellar: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many  (a) glass and  (b) plastic bottles of water were bought by the House in 2006; and how many were returned to the supplier for re-use.

Nick Harvey: The House of Commons Refreshment Department purchases water in 300ml and one litre bottles for resale and for use in Committees and other meetings. The number of bottles purchased in the financial year 2006-07 was as follows:
	
		
			  Type of bottle  Number of bottles 
			 Glass bottles (one litre) 73,813 
			 Plastic bottles (300ml) 159,475 
		
	
	None of these bottles was returned to the supplier for re-use. They are, however, recycled and in the financial year 2006-07 the House sent 174.2 tonnes of glass and 2.7 tonnes of plastic bottles for recycling.
	Other Departments purchase 18.5 litre bottles for use in chilled water dispensing machines. These are returned to the supplier for re-use. The number purchased during 2006-07 was 651.